APRIL GARDENING TIPS

By John Draper
Easter provides some useful extra time for outdoor gardening at a time when there’s lots of seeds to sow, flower borders to plant up and weeds to keep under control. Plant growth should be strong, and spring flowering rhododendrons, azaleas and bulbs should be providing lots of colour and interest.
The Lawn
Lawn grasses will have started growing as the soil warms up and mowing needs to start in earnest. As you mow you will probably notice that there are thin, bare patches and the colour of the remaining grass is verging towards pale yellow, rather than rich green. If you look harder then you may spot patches of moss in shady areas and the inevitable weed marring the look. If you can spot any two of these symptoms then your lawn needs a thorough makeover to get back into a decent lawn rather than a simple patch of weedy grass.
Regular mowing is a vital part of lawn care. A quick whiz with a sharp and well-adjusted mower will only take you a few minutes if you do the job every week. Mowing as often as you are able will encourage the fine grasses and allow the grass enough energy to thicken up.
The trick is not to cut the lawn too short, most mowers have a height adjustment that will allow you to leave the grass around 3cm (1″) long for spring. A lawn cut much shorter than this allows the easy establishment of broad-leaved weeds such as dandelion and daisies.
Growing Your Own
Easter is the traditional time to plant out new potatoes in garden soil producing a tasty crop in July. Potatoes are a hungry crop that provides maximum yields after the soil has been enriched with plenty of organic matter. If you have well-rotted garden compost, use this or add the spent compost from last year’s growing bags.
If you have no reserves of organic matter you can buy bags of farmyard manure from your local garden centre. For those people without the room to grow potatoes in open soil, there are a number of potato and vegetable planters. This can be placed onto a sunny patio or balcony where up to five potatoes can be grown to give an ample crop.
Patio, Tubs & Baskets
Outside space is precious to everyone, but all too often we don’t have enough, or what we do have is overrun by kids toys, pets or for parking cars.  So to reclaim a little corner back for yourself why not try ‘vertical gardening’. Even the tiniest of spaces can be transformed with a little ‘vertical gardening’.
More detailed information can be found online on the website at www.greenergardens.co.uk. You can also follow Greener Gardens on Facebook, simply type in Greener Gardens Lawncare Nottingham.